Courts asks sports secretary to manage RCA affairs for 3 weeks

With a legal battle on between ousted president Lalit Modi and rebel faction led by Amin Pathan, the high court Friday asked state sports secretary JC Mahanti to manage the affairs of the Rajasthan Cricket Association for three weeks.

cricketUpdated: Oct 18, 2014 10:34 IST

HT Correspondent Hindustan Times

With a legal battle on between ousted president Lalit Modi and rebel faction led by Amin Pathan, the high court Friday asked state sports secretary JC Mahanti to manage the affairs of the Rajasthan Cricket Association for three weeks.

Justice MN Bhandari passed the order after hearing a petition filed, among others, by Mehmood Abdi, ousted RCA deputy president and Modi's close aide.

The court also issued notices to the state government and to Amin Pathan whose faction did not vacate the RCA premises as demanded by Abdi.

"We had filed three cases against Amin Pathan’s faction but the court did not give any decision,” Abdi said.

Last Saturday, 23 out of the 33 district cricket associations had passed a no-confidence motion against Modi and removed him as the president of the RCA, five months after electing him to the post with an emphatic majority.

Pathan was then elected the new president of the association, but the Modi faction moved court accusing the new group of forcibly occupying RCA offices.

Abdi alleged that the meeting which removed Modi was illegal and it appeared that fictitious persons have been passed off as representatives of the district associations which voted him out.

"There is no provision of any no-confidence motion in the Rajasthan Sports Act,” Abdi said.

On the other hand, Pathan justified the coup saying that after Modi was elected, cricketing activities in the state came to a standstill with the BCCI banning the RCA for electing Modi despite its warnings. The legal battle with the BCCI also cost the RCA Rs 1 crore over the past five months, he said.

Mahanti, who will manage RCA’s affairs for now, had earlier served as the chairman of the Sports Council from April 21, 2007 to September 17, 2008.